C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
So the NCAA passed legislation yesterday giving spring sport athletes another year of eligibility after they all lost this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It's a landmark decision by college sport's governing body, but comes with its own set of good and bad.
If you're looking for a really good breakdown of the entire thing, Kendall Rodgers at D1Baseball has a really good one.
Ten thoughts on the ruling and how it could impact South Carolina (specifically baseball):
1. This is by far the absolute right thing to do for the student athlete, allowing guys (and girls) who had their years ripped from them, some as seniors, a chance to come back and get another opportunity to end their careers on their terms. Good on the NCAA for stepping up and doing things the right way for this. This seemed like an absolute no-brainer and kudos for the NCAA getting it right; that doesn't always happen.
2. This is really good for juniors and junior college sophomores (we'll get to them), especially for the draft (we'll get to that as well). If this didn't get approved, then juniors and JUCO sophomores (to a lesser degree) lower-round guys would be going into a five-round draft almost guaranteeing they wouldn't be drafted and having to sign for $20,000. This eligibility situation gives those guys—Thomas Farr, Brannon Jordan, Noah Campbell and 10 other draft-eligible non-seniors on the team—another year of bargaining power. That's good for them and the future of their careers. Minor leaguers don't get paid, for lack of a better word, diddly squat and not getting a signing bonus would drastically affect financial situations.
3. This creates an interesting situation for the 2020 class in terms of roster and scholarships (we'll get to both later). But these guys were recruited with the idea that the seniors and a lot of the juniors would likely be moving on to professional baseball, thus freeing up a spot and more opportunity to compete for more innings next year. Take for instance 2020 catcher signee Alek Boychuk. He was recruited by this staff and looking at the 2020 roster, the Gamecocks were expected to have just two true catchers on the roster with Colin Burgess and Jax Cash. If he comes to school (which is a likely possibility) now, there's the possibility Dallas Beaver comes back and would be one of the two favorites at that catcher position with Burgess.
Now, instead of Boychuk competing with two players—a sophomore and likely redshirt freshman—he'd have to compete with a sixth-year senior as well, probably cutting into innings and at-bats he could get. It's the situation they're in right now, but have to imagine a little bit of that has to be frustrating for these guys who are coming in now at positions where there are log jams.
4. Also, with junior college signees—Luke Little, David Mendham, Sawyre Thornhill, CJ Weins—all would be coming in as juniors but could get a waiver to be sophomores at the college level, which would certainly benefit South Carolina.
Getting Little to campus is going to be a tall task, but the new draft setup might benefit getting Weins, a really good pitcher, to campus and the rest of the JUCO group. Adding another year of eligibility to their time at South Carolina would also be a big boost.
5. The draft is going to be weird this year—five rounds, any player signed after the fifth round gets $20,000—and long story short here it means college baseball will be absolutely loaded next season. The Gamecocks have 13 draft-eligible juniors or sophomores: Anthony Amicangelo, Campbell, Parker Coyne, Andrew Eyster, Thomas Farr, Jeff Heinrich, Jordan, Brett Kerry, Hayden Lehman, Noah Myers, Andy Peters, TJ Shook, Cam Tringali.
There are only about five guys I can realistically see on the current roster getting picked in the first five rounds: Mlodzinski, Farr, Campbell, Jordan and maybe Eyster. We reported over the weekend Mlodzinski is a likely first or second round pick whereas all the other guys are fringe 4-5 round picks. We mentioned as well Farr's signing price would likely be pretty high since he's the odds-on favorite to take over as the No. 1 starter next season and retains that year of eligibility. Peters had a chance to go right out of JUCO but after just a small sample size as a junior at USC, it will be hard for him to get the money he needs to leave.
All those guys obviously want to sign professional deals but the money just honestly might not be there this year. If a junior doesn't get picked in the first five rounds, it's hard for me to see them not coming back to school.
6. With the ruling, seniors aren't counted toward the 11.7 scholarship limit and won't technically count towards the roster size. Seniors can get scholarship money next year, but that's up to the discretion of the school. Even if they don't get any scholarship money, returning almost a complete roster at 11.7 already will put a lot of stress on the coaching staff to get down to that number. Almost every player is currently on some form of scholarship and they're set to enroll a 20-man recruiting class (all of those won't make it to campus) with guys having already signed scholarship papers. It wouldn't shock me to see some roster turnover just to get things down to that 11.7 threshold.
7. Seniors don't technically count towards the roster limit of 35 (27 in conference play), which is really smart and really good for coaches. Right now the Gamecocks have four seniors—Dallas Beaver, Bryant Bowen, Graham Lawson and George Callil—which would mean their roster could technically be at 39 and 31 next season.
With seniors, I know as of last week some didn't have concrete plans yet and were waiting things out to see what the NCAA decided. There were some still planning on being at South Carolina next season and some still testing pro waters. I'm not speaking for these guys, but a lot of those guys are in their fifth or sixth year of college and the clock is ticking on their pro careers. Could they opt to just sign for $20,000 and get started because they already have a degree and want to start playing professionally? Sure, I could see that happening. Regardless, it's going to be interesting to see how managing rosters, innings pitched and at-bats goes.
8. The class that really gets put in a tough spot is the 2021 class. Because the rosters are expanding this year doesn't mean they're going to expand all year. That means guys are coming into situations where a roster spot might not be there with sophomores or juniors still on campus. It's going to be interesting to see how that situation all plays out. I don't feel like the impact on the 2021 class is getting talked about enough.
9. This, in a weird way, works well for guys who are injured. It essentially gives them a free redshirt year. The Gamecocks had a few guys rehabbing from Tommy John surgery—Hayden Lehman, Will McGregor, Wes Sweatt, Dylan Harley—that will get time to rehab it without games going on, and there were some other guys battling nagging things and this gives them more time to get it right and be 100 percent.
10. I know everyone wanted to see this approved for winter sports—getting Maik Kotsar, Ty Harris, Kiki Herbert-Harrigan back—but the more people (and I) thought about it, the more infeasible it was. You have a lot of teams that had already finished its seasons, with players done playing. There were only a third of teams really that would have gone to the postseason. Do we allow those guys to have another year? Give it to players who would be playing in the postseason? Those are tough questions that can't really be answered fairly.
Would I have liked to see a guy like Kotsar, who I've thoroughly enjoyed covering, get another year or next year's women's team take another crack at the national title with Harris and Herbert-Harrigan? Yes. But it's just not feasible.
If you're looking for a really good breakdown of the entire thing, Kendall Rodgers at D1Baseball has a really good one.
Ten thoughts on the ruling and how it could impact South Carolina (specifically baseball):
1. This is by far the absolute right thing to do for the student athlete, allowing guys (and girls) who had their years ripped from them, some as seniors, a chance to come back and get another opportunity to end their careers on their terms. Good on the NCAA for stepping up and doing things the right way for this. This seemed like an absolute no-brainer and kudos for the NCAA getting it right; that doesn't always happen.
2. This is really good for juniors and junior college sophomores (we'll get to them), especially for the draft (we'll get to that as well). If this didn't get approved, then juniors and JUCO sophomores (to a lesser degree) lower-round guys would be going into a five-round draft almost guaranteeing they wouldn't be drafted and having to sign for $20,000. This eligibility situation gives those guys—Thomas Farr, Brannon Jordan, Noah Campbell and 10 other draft-eligible non-seniors on the team—another year of bargaining power. That's good for them and the future of their careers. Minor leaguers don't get paid, for lack of a better word, diddly squat and not getting a signing bonus would drastically affect financial situations.
3. This creates an interesting situation for the 2020 class in terms of roster and scholarships (we'll get to both later). But these guys were recruited with the idea that the seniors and a lot of the juniors would likely be moving on to professional baseball, thus freeing up a spot and more opportunity to compete for more innings next year. Take for instance 2020 catcher signee Alek Boychuk. He was recruited by this staff and looking at the 2020 roster, the Gamecocks were expected to have just two true catchers on the roster with Colin Burgess and Jax Cash. If he comes to school (which is a likely possibility) now, there's the possibility Dallas Beaver comes back and would be one of the two favorites at that catcher position with Burgess.
Now, instead of Boychuk competing with two players—a sophomore and likely redshirt freshman—he'd have to compete with a sixth-year senior as well, probably cutting into innings and at-bats he could get. It's the situation they're in right now, but have to imagine a little bit of that has to be frustrating for these guys who are coming in now at positions where there are log jams.
4. Also, with junior college signees—Luke Little, David Mendham, Sawyre Thornhill, CJ Weins—all would be coming in as juniors but could get a waiver to be sophomores at the college level, which would certainly benefit South Carolina.
Getting Little to campus is going to be a tall task, but the new draft setup might benefit getting Weins, a really good pitcher, to campus and the rest of the JUCO group. Adding another year of eligibility to their time at South Carolina would also be a big boost.
5. The draft is going to be weird this year—five rounds, any player signed after the fifth round gets $20,000—and long story short here it means college baseball will be absolutely loaded next season. The Gamecocks have 13 draft-eligible juniors or sophomores: Anthony Amicangelo, Campbell, Parker Coyne, Andrew Eyster, Thomas Farr, Jeff Heinrich, Jordan, Brett Kerry, Hayden Lehman, Noah Myers, Andy Peters, TJ Shook, Cam Tringali.
There are only about five guys I can realistically see on the current roster getting picked in the first five rounds: Mlodzinski, Farr, Campbell, Jordan and maybe Eyster. We reported over the weekend Mlodzinski is a likely first or second round pick whereas all the other guys are fringe 4-5 round picks. We mentioned as well Farr's signing price would likely be pretty high since he's the odds-on favorite to take over as the No. 1 starter next season and retains that year of eligibility. Peters had a chance to go right out of JUCO but after just a small sample size as a junior at USC, it will be hard for him to get the money he needs to leave.
All those guys obviously want to sign professional deals but the money just honestly might not be there this year. If a junior doesn't get picked in the first five rounds, it's hard for me to see them not coming back to school.
6. With the ruling, seniors aren't counted toward the 11.7 scholarship limit and won't technically count towards the roster size. Seniors can get scholarship money next year, but that's up to the discretion of the school. Even if they don't get any scholarship money, returning almost a complete roster at 11.7 already will put a lot of stress on the coaching staff to get down to that number. Almost every player is currently on some form of scholarship and they're set to enroll a 20-man recruiting class (all of those won't make it to campus) with guys having already signed scholarship papers. It wouldn't shock me to see some roster turnover just to get things down to that 11.7 threshold.
7. Seniors don't technically count towards the roster limit of 35 (27 in conference play), which is really smart and really good for coaches. Right now the Gamecocks have four seniors—Dallas Beaver, Bryant Bowen, Graham Lawson and George Callil—which would mean their roster could technically be at 39 and 31 next season.
With seniors, I know as of last week some didn't have concrete plans yet and were waiting things out to see what the NCAA decided. There were some still planning on being at South Carolina next season and some still testing pro waters. I'm not speaking for these guys, but a lot of those guys are in their fifth or sixth year of college and the clock is ticking on their pro careers. Could they opt to just sign for $20,000 and get started because they already have a degree and want to start playing professionally? Sure, I could see that happening. Regardless, it's going to be interesting to see how managing rosters, innings pitched and at-bats goes.
8. The class that really gets put in a tough spot is the 2021 class. Because the rosters are expanding this year doesn't mean they're going to expand all year. That means guys are coming into situations where a roster spot might not be there with sophomores or juniors still on campus. It's going to be interesting to see how that situation all plays out. I don't feel like the impact on the 2021 class is getting talked about enough.
9. This, in a weird way, works well for guys who are injured. It essentially gives them a free redshirt year. The Gamecocks had a few guys rehabbing from Tommy John surgery—Hayden Lehman, Will McGregor, Wes Sweatt, Dylan Harley—that will get time to rehab it without games going on, and there were some other guys battling nagging things and this gives them more time to get it right and be 100 percent.
10. I know everyone wanted to see this approved for winter sports—getting Maik Kotsar, Ty Harris, Kiki Herbert-Harrigan back—but the more people (and I) thought about it, the more infeasible it was. You have a lot of teams that had already finished its seasons, with players done playing. There were only a third of teams really that would have gone to the postseason. Do we allow those guys to have another year? Give it to players who would be playing in the postseason? Those are tough questions that can't really be answered fairly.
Would I have liked to see a guy like Kotsar, who I've thoroughly enjoyed covering, get another year or next year's women's team take another crack at the national title with Harris and Herbert-Harrigan? Yes. But it's just not feasible.
